Distressed Area Recompete Pilot Program: Closed 2023-2024 Competition and Archive
Historical reference for the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s closed Recompete competition, which funded strategy development and large implementation plans for persistently distressed communities with high prime-age employment gaps.
The Distressed Area Recompete Pilot Program is a completed U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) competition. It is not an open grant round, and EDA has not announced a new application cycle on the official program pages reviewed for this update. This entry is retained as a historical reference because the program’s design, eligibility rules, award structure, and application process remain useful to communities preparing for a possible future announcement. It should not be read as an invitation to submit an application now.
The official EDA program page describes Recompete as a two-phase initiative for places with persistent economic distress and a high prime-age employment gap (PAEG). The measure focuses on the share of people ages 25 to 54 who are working, rather than looking only at the people who are currently unemployed and seeking work. EDA designed the program around the idea that a community can have a serious employment problem even when many affected residents are no longer counted as part of the active labor force.
The completed competition had two distinct routes. Phase 1 offered Strategy Development Grants and reviewed Recompete Plans. Phase 2 offered Implementation Grants, but only to communities that became Recompete Plan Finalists through Phase 1. The final round of Phase 2 applications closed on April 25, 2024. EDA’s Phase 2 page now labels the opportunity Closed, and the agency’s FAQ says that any additional Recompete Plan Approval or Strategy Development Grant competitions are subject to future appropriations. No successor date is published there.
Recompete at a glance
| Detail | Verified information |
|---|---|
| Program | Distressed Area Recompete Pilot Program |
| Administrator | U.S. Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce |
| Status | Closed historical competition; no next round announced on the official pages reviewed |
| Archived deadline | April 25, 2024, for the Phase 2 Implementation Grant application |
| Phase 1 funding | Strategy Development Grants generally ranged from $250,000 to $500,000; EDA said awards up to $750,000 would be rare |
| Phase 2 funding | EDA expected four to eight Implementation awards, averaging about $50 million for Local Labor Markets and about $20 million for Local Communities |
| Initial appropriation | $200 million for the 2023-2024 competition, from a statutory authorization of up to $1 billion |
| Geographic focus | Eligible Local Labor Markets and Local Communities in the United States, including Tribal lands and Pacific Ocean Territories as specified by the program |
| Core measure | Prime-age employment gap for people ages 25 to 54 |
| Official program page | EDA Recompete Pilot Program |
| Official phase pages | Phase 1 and Phase 2 |
What the program was designed to fund
Recompete was not a conventional single-project infrastructure grant. EDA intended the Implementation Grants to support a connected set of projects that addressed the reasons people were unable to participate in or advance through the local economy. The official FAQ describes a portfolio of three to eight complementary projects rather than an isolated construction request or a standalone training course.
Potential activities included workforce development, business and entrepreneur support, infrastructure, planning, predevelopment, and technical assistance. A strong plan could connect an employer-informed training program with the practical conditions that allow residents to complete it and keep a job. Depending on local evidence, that might involve transportation, childcare, housing-related barriers, broadband, a training facility, industrial-site work, small-business assistance, or coordinated case management. The program did not prescribe one universal project mix. It expected each eligible area to identify the barriers driving its own PAEG and build a coherent response.
The program’s structure also placed unusual emphasis on coordination. A Recompete Plan needed to show how the proposed projects worked together, who would coordinate them, how the coalition would make decisions, and how progress would be measured. A list of worthy local programs was not enough. The plan had to connect activities to the employment problem and explain why the applicant could manage the full portfolio.
EDA initially received $200 million for the program. The official program material says that the completed competition produced six Implementation awards totaling approximately $184 million, with each award supporting five to eight projects tailored to the recipient community. That result is different from the original planning estimate, so the historical record should distinguish the expected award averages from the awards actually announced.
Phase 1: Strategy Development Grants and Recompete Plan Approval
Phase 1 served two related purposes. First, EDA funded Strategy Development Grants to help communities improve local coordination, analyze their employment conditions, and prepare a stronger strategy. Second, it reviewed Recompete Plans and identified Finalists eligible to pursue Phase 2 Implementation Grants. Recompete Plan Approval itself did not provide funding; it was a competitive signal that the plan met the program’s standard for a plausible, multi-year approach to reducing the PAEG.
EDA’s FAQ states that Strategy Development Grants generally ranged from $250,000 to $500,000, with awards up to $750,000 possible only in rare circumstances. The grants were intended for work such as labor-market analysis, community engagement, coalition development, planning, and preparation for a later implementation proposal. EDA expected most Phase 1 projects to run for 18 to 36 months, depending on the approved scope.
The Phase 1 competition was open to eligible entities and coalitions that could represent an eligible area. Applicants could seek a Strategy Development Grant, Recompete Plan Approval, or both. The Phase 1 application deadline was October 5, 2023, according to EDA’s official FAQ. That window is closed, and a community cannot use the old Phase 1 application route to start a new submission.
Phase 2: Implementation Grants
Phase 2 was narrower than Phase 1. Only Recompete Plan Finalists could apply for Implementation Grants. EDA expected four to eight awards, with average amounts of approximately $50 million for Local Labor Markets and approximately $20 million for Local Communities. Those were planning averages, not guaranteed amounts. EDA’s FAQ says that a finalist should propose an investment level that reflects the cost of reducing its region’s PAEG and that EDA could fund all or only some of the proposed component projects.
The official Phase 2 NOFO allowed a maximum 100 percent federal grant rate in general, meaning a local match was not required as a condition of applying. This corrects the old page’s claim that implementation applicants had to demonstrate secured matching funds. Matching dollars, other funding, employer commitments, and policy commitments were competitive factors under the sustainable-partnerships criterion, but they were not a blanket eligibility requirement. A future notice could change those terms, so a prospective applicant must read the new NOFO rather than carry forward the historical rules automatically.
The Phase 2 application deadline was April 25, 2024. The Phase 2 FAQ says applications were submitted through EDA’s EDGE system and that the lead applicant received the application link. Component Project Leads needed their own EDGE registration and a Unique Entity Identifier. An active CAGE code was required by award processing, even though it was not necessarily required at the moment of application. Those instructions describe the closed competition, not a currently available portal.
Who was eligible
Eligibility had two separate parts: the organization applying and the geography the application served. The applicant did not simply qualify because it was a nonprofit, a city, or a regional development group. It had to be an eligible entity representing an eligible area and had to explain the service area that would receive the proposed benefits.
EDA’s official FAQ lists the following eligible recipient types:
- A unit of local government.
- The District of Columbia or a territory of the United States.
- A Tribal government.
- A political subdivision of a state or another entity, including a special-purpose entity engaged in economic development activities.
- A public entity or nonprofit organization acting in cooperation with the officials of a qualifying political subdivision or other eligible entity.
- An Economic Development District.
- A coalition made up of eligible entities that serve or are contained within the same eligible area.
Applicants could be located outside the target geography if they could represent and act on behalf of that area. The location of the applicant’s headquarters was not the sole test. The service area and the proposed project benefits had to remain focused on the eligible area.
Eligible areas and the prime-age employment gap
EDA recognized two eligible area types. A Local Labor Market could be a Metropolitan Statistical Area, Micropolitan Statistical Area, commuting zone, or Tribal lands. Local Labor Markets with a PAEG of at least 2.5 percent were eligible under the program’s published criteria. EDA also treated all Tribal lands and Pacific Ocean Territories as eligible Local Labor Markets for the competition.
A Local Community was an area served by a general-purpose local government located within, but not fully covering, an ineligible Local Labor Market. It could qualify in either of two ways: the full area served by the local government had an average PAEG of at least 5 percent and median annual household income of no more than $75,000, or a subset contained at least five contiguous Census tracts that each met the 5 percent PAEG and $75,000 income thresholds. In the second case, the proposed service area had to remain within those qualifying Census tracts.
PAEG is based on the difference between the national five-year average prime-age employment rate and the five-year average rate for the eligible area. The measure is intended to capture both unemployment and people who have left the labor force. It is not the same as an unemployment rate, and an applicant could not replace the program’s geographic test with a general statement that its economy was struggling.
EDA created an eligibility mapping tool and allowed applicants to submit supporting data if the map did not reflect an area they believed met the statutory definition. A serious application would have documented the eligible area, the narrower service area, the affected population, and the connection between the proposed interventions and the employment gap.
What a complete application required
The exact forms belonged to the relevant NOFO, but the closed competition shows the level of preparation EDA expected. A future applicant should verify every item against a new notice rather than assume these requirements will be identical.
1. Define the eligible area and service area
The applicant needed to identify the Local Labor Market or Local Community, explain how it met the PAEG and income criteria, and distinguish the full eligible area from the specific service area. Maps, Census tract information, labor-market data, and the EDA mapping-tool materials helped make this section auditable.
2. Document the employment problem
The narrative needed more than a low-income label or a list of closed employers. It had to show who was outside the labor force, where the gap was concentrated, what barriers affected participation, and why the proposed projects addressed those barriers. Useful evidence could include prime-age employment data, wage information, employer demand, transportation access, childcare capacity, housing conditions, training completion, and retention.
3. Build a Recompete Plan
The plan had to explain the strategy, target population, service area, project portfolio, governance, schedule, budget, partnerships, and expected outcomes. Each component should have had a defined lead, a realistic scope, and a clear role in reducing the PAEG or improving access to good jobs. The plan coordinator role mattered because the grant would span multiple organizations and project types.
4. Prepare project narratives and budgets
Phase 2 applicants needed updated Recompete Plan material plus component project applications. Budgets had to identify the costs of each activity and distinguish federal funds from other contributions. Construction or equipment proposals required additional planning and federal review. EDA’s FAQ also cautioned that EDA would not necessarily fund every component submitted by a finalist.
5. Show partnership capacity
Letters and agreements were most useful when they stated specific commitments: staff time, hiring targets, paid work-based learning slots, facilities, equipment, data access, operating funds, or coordination responsibilities. Match was not mandatory, but specific matching or other commitments could improve the competitive case. A letter that merely expressed general support did not establish who would deliver the work.
6. Establish grant-management readiness
The lead applicant needed the organizational capacity to manage a substantial federal award, coordinate partners, maintain financial controls, and report outcomes. The Phase 2 process also required the relevant organizations to work through EDGE, and component leads needed UEIs. A future applicant should begin SAM.gov and entity-registration work early because those administrative steps can delay an otherwise complete application.
How the closed application process worked
For the historical Phase 1 process, an eligible applicant first checked its geography with EDA’s mapping resources, selected whether to seek a Strategy Development Grant, Recompete Plan Approval, or both, organized the lead entity and coalition, and prepared the required plan, budget, eligibility evidence, and supporting documents. It then submitted through EDA’s application system by the Phase 1 deadline of October 5, 2023.
Phase 1 results determined who could continue. A Recompete Plan Finalist could then refine its plan, respond to EDA feedback, define the component projects, assign project leads, prepare the updated budget and commitments, and submit the Phase 2 materials through EDGE by April 25, 2024. The lead applicant coordinated the overarching submission, while component leads completed their project-level materials. This was a finalist-only route; a new organization could not bypass Phase 1 by submitting directly to the closed Phase 2 opportunity.
Today, the practical application step is different: there is no open Recompete application to submit. A community interested in a possible successor should monitor EDA’s official program page and funding-opportunity pages, confirm that Congress and EDA have provided authority and funds, and wait for a new NOFO. It should not rely on the old EDGE links, reuse the archived deadline as a current date, or assume that the eligibility thresholds, award sizes, match treatment, or application forms will remain unchanged.
What the official record says about a future round
EDA’s Phase 2 FAQ says that the agency may conduct additional Recompete Plan Approval and Strategy Development Grant competitions subject to future appropriations. That language leaves the possibility open, but it is not an announcement. The official pages reviewed for this entry do not publish a new NOFO, opening date, deadline, award amount, or application link for a later round.
That distinction matters for community planning. A local coalition can still use the completed program’s framework to organize labor-market evidence, clarify its service area, identify employers and service providers, and establish grant-management capacity. It cannot describe those preparations as an active application opportunity. If EDA issues a new competition, applicants should start with the new notice and its eligibility definitions, budget rules, evaluation criteria, and submission instructions.
Frequently asked questions
Is Recompete currently accepting applications?
No. EDA’s Phase 1 and Phase 2 funding-opportunity pages identify the competition as closed. The archived Phase 2 deadline was April 25, 2024.
Can a nonprofit apply now?
No current application window is open. In the completed competition, a nonprofit could qualify as an eligible public or nonprofit organization acting in the required cooperation with officials of a qualifying political subdivision, or as part of an eligible coalition. A future NOFO would control.
Was a local match required?
No blanket match requirement applied to Phase 1 or Phase 2. EDA stated that matching dollars, other funding, and commitments could be competitive factors in Phase 2. This is why a credible financing and partnership plan mattered without making match a universal eligibility condition.
Could any community apply for the large Implementation Grants?
No. Phase 2 was limited to Recompete Plan Finalists from Phase 1. The applicant also had to represent an eligible Local Labor Market or Local Community and propose benefits focused on that service area.
What should a prospective applicant do with this page?
Use it to understand the completed program and to prepare questions for a future EDA announcement. Verify any new deadline, award range, eligibility threshold, required form, or application portal against the new official NOFO before taking action.
Official sources
- EDA Distressed Area Recompete Pilot Program
- Recompete Pilot Program Phase 1
- Recompete Pilot Program Phase 2
- Recompete Pilot Program FAQs
- Recompete Pilot Program Phase 2 FAQs
This page is intentionally marked as a historical reference. Its deadline is the real closing date of the completed Phase 2 competition, not a date that applicants can still meet. No later cycle has been announced in the official EDA material reviewed for this update.